Norwich Citadel Busy at End of Season

The Norwich Citadel Band (Bandmaster Douglas Beattie) ended their 2004 – 2005 season with a flurry of activity, including engagements in Ditchingham, Sheringham and Dereham, and recording sessions for a special Christmas project.

The first engagement in the series was at the Community of All Hallows, an Anglican convent in Ditchingham. Celebrating the 150th anniversary of their order this year, the Reverend Mother (who as a girl was a Junior Soldier of the Lowestoft South Corps) invited the Norwich Citadel Band to participate. On an sunny Sunday afternoon, the band presented an outdoor concert and then moved inside to play for a capacity crowd in St. Gabriel’s Chapel. The band reports that the contrasting styles of worship, which some might think would be incompatible, harmonized well, the the delight of all in attendance.

The beginning of July saw the band in recording sessions for a special Christmas project in conjunction with People’s Friend magazine. The magazine commissioned the band to record a disc of traditional Christmas music, which will be distributed with their December issue, to an estimated circulation of 250,000. While the CD to be distributed with the magazine is limited to standard Christmas music, Bandmaster Beattie also plans to record some additional tracks and release an enhanced recording in the future.

All of the Citadel’s music sections journeyed to Sheringham on the afternoon of 3 July for afternoon and evening events, including a march from Sheringham hall to the seafront. The afternoon concert was held on the clifftop “Leas”, featuring both the band and songsters. The evening event was held in the Sheringham hall, filled to overflowing, and then the forces of both the Sheringham and Norwich corps joined together for another march, culminating in a program of Songs of Praise performed in the open-air with an audience of several hundred.

The Norwich Citadel Band brought their season to a close with a visit to Dereham, 15 miles west of Norwich, on 16 July. Two years ago, the Trinity Methodist Church invited the band to participate in its annual Flower Festival. Although scheduling conflicts prevented the band from accepting the engagement at that time, they were able to do so this year. Solo items on the program included Happy All the Day, played by Richard Woodrow, and Daniel Beattie performing We’ll All Shout Hallelujah. The band also included a piece new to its repertoire, Sursum Corda (Brian Bowen), based on the well-known hymn tune “Hyfrydol”. Other items included Deep River, Swingtime Religion, Les Toreadors, Feliz Navidad, Go Tell It!, and Swedish Folk Song.

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